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You might not envision spending thousands of dollars on a ticket to Sunday’s Super Bowl, but you
can still grab a sweet deal on a 55-inch TV and get a 50-yard-line view from your couch.

Consumer website DealNews.com says the best deals are on 55- and 60-inch high-definition TVs. “
Get the biggest screen size you can afford and accommodate, because you’ll have less incentive to
upgrade later,” said Louis Ramirez, the site’s senior features writer.

If you want the best value, start with at least a 55-inch LCD model with 1080p resolution,
Ramirez said. Some retailers might be selling older 720p resolution sets, but these often are not
the best deal with 1080p the current standard. “There is no point in buying something outdated,”
Ramirez said. “The savings are not going to be that great.”

A 55-inch model from a lesser-known brand, such as Best Buy’s Insignia, will cost between $547
and $649. A name-brand set of the same size will run about $700, Ramirez said. You can upgrade to a
60-inch brand-name set for about $900 — not a bad deal, considering just a few years ago these TVs
were well above $1,000.

For the past two years, a 55-inch 3-D set was considered the pinnacle of HDTV technology,
Ramirez said, but customers just weren’t buying. Maybe it was the $100 3-D glasses — a major
expense for a large family.

The new push is for Ultra HD models, which have several times the resolution of prior displays.
As a result, the price is narrowing between 3-D and non-3-D 55-inch HDTVs, Ramirez said.

If you must have 3-D, look for a brand name 55-inch priced at or below $800.

In the smart vs. dumb HDTV debate, Ramirez said it is important to first assess what you want to
watch — and how to receive it. All 2013 big-screen TVs should have built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet
connections for streaming content, and some brands have entered partnerships to support specific
content from services such as Vudu or Netflix. This might not be the case for 2012 models, so be
sure to ask for specifics.

You can find great HDTV deals in stores, but you might find even lower prices online.